Major intervention sees Cameron get a drubbing at PMQs
David Cameron endured one of his worst PMQs as prime minister today, after Ed Miliband used John Major's demands for an energy windfall tax to push the Conservatives into a vulnerable position on the issue.
The prime minister looked uncomfortable as he branded Miliband a "con man" for his pledge to freeze energy prices for 20 months and said he would instead work to scrap green fees paid by consumers.
But he was wrong-footed by Miliband's joke that Cameron once described people who wanted to intervene in the energy market as living "in a Marxist universe".
He then asked if the prime minister felt the "red peril" had overtaken the former Conservative prime minister as well, to laughter in the Commons.
"We need a very frank conversation about what it is that's putting bills up," Cameron replied.
"We need to roll back the green charges. We all know who put them in place."
The last comment is a reference to Miliband's time as energy secretary under the last Labour government.
Cameron promised a 'proper competition test' to see if the market can be more competitive, conducted annually by Ofgem.
There will also be an investigation into green levies, which account for an average of nine per cent of people's bills, with the clear suggestion being that they will be rolled back.
"He really is changing his policy every day of the week. It's absolutely extraordinary," Miliband replied.
"His energy secretary says it's nothing to do with green charges. Who was the man who said 'vote blue to go green'? It was him."
He added: "Major was a Conservative prime minister who won a majority, unlike this one."
Cameron replied: "He talks about Major winning an election. That's right. He beat a weak and incredible Labour leader. Isn't that rather familiar? John Major also said Labour's policy was unworkable."
Miliband demanded the Tory leader work with him to introduce an energy price freeze in the energy bill, but Cameron responded: ""He knows perfectly well it's not a price freeze, it's a price con. It's a cynical ploy."
But the prime minister's session only got worse when he said Major was a "good man, not a con man", earning a rebuke from Speaker John Bercow for his use of the term 'con man'.
"I let it go the first time. The word 'con man' is unparliamentary," the Speaker said.
"It's a bit below the level."
There were fierce Tory complaints about the Speaker's intervention, which do little to repair the fractious relationship between Bercow and the prime minister.
